Ticats get off to a good start…and finish…to win a classic Labour Day squeaker

It was Hamilton’s elixir of the gods, the football gods. A return to the natural order of things. Mood swings of epic proportions ending in elation…and relief.  A glimmer of hope in the midst of doubt and disappointment.

Labour Day. The Ticats by three.

There’s so much more but that’s all that matters on the first Monday in September. Beat the Argos on Labour Day and most, if not all, will be forgiven. And beat the Toronto Argonauts, who came into this game eight points ahead in the standings, they did. 31-28.  

Summer can end peacefully, the kids can start school with a smile.

There was a mixture of relief, joy, and physical expression—Bo Levi Mitchell threw his arms up in the air exhorting the crowd after one of his lengthy touchdown passes to Tim White, defensive lineman Trevon Mason did a flip as the game ended, the team applauded and roared in the buoyant locker room after they received the Ballard Trophy for the QEW championship—as the Ticats threw off a four-game losing streak and repelled a determined Argo bid for a franchise record-tying third straight Labour Day win.

The Ticats still have a lifeline after they started and ended with big plays—that’s a combination rarely seen this season—although at 3-9 they still probably have to win out and get some help from others to reel in the Argos. But after their second win over their ancient rivals, they might be in Toronto’s head a bit, and the Argos probably have the league’s toughest schedule over the CFL’s final third.

It was easily the Ticats’ most complete game of the year and the best by Mitchell of the campaign.

“He was balling,” said White who caught six passes for 180 yards and had a 14-yard punt return. “He was just laying the ball up there, letting us go and get it and it’s extremely fun to play like that. We executed plays that came our way so it was fun.”

The Ticats won the turnover battle (1-0), the penalties battle, and the big-plays battle. They managed the wind, and the clock, better than in any game this year. 

The downfield kick coverage was superb. Although there were four sacks, the offensive line was punishing and one of the team’s strong points. The Hamilton defence limited five menacing Toronto drives to field goals and had Richard Leonard make a critical interception on the second play from scrimmage.  Mitchell struck deep early and often, including a 57-yard touchdown bomb to the all-alone White two plays after the Leonard pick.  White was magical.  Greg Bell rushed with authority and speed.  Marc Liegghio kicked a 55-yard field goal to break the tie with under three minutes left.

And the offence was unimpeachable on second down, including the game-clincher at 2nd -and-8  after just their second and third penalties of the game had pushed them back into dangerous time-clock territory.  But on a gutsy call, and even gutsier execution, Mitchell hit Brendan O’Leary-Orange for 48 yards to the Argo five-yard-line, allowing backup quarterback Tulia Tagovailoa, making his first pro appearance, to kill the clock. He’d been used, surprisingly, a few times earlier, including for a brilliant fake-and-run touchdown of his own.

“We talk about it all the time; there are so many games you come out and look great for whether it’s one quarter, two quarters, three quarters, but if you don’t do it for four, you don’t win a game,” said Mitchell, who went 20-for-30 for 347 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions.

“We’ve seen what we can be when we’re playing that way against good teams. It’s frustrating not to do it all the time. But that’s part of having a young team and learning these things. Hopefully, it’s something we can learn and can continue to build off and ride this kind of wave and make a spark here at the end.”

Toronto, behind multi-talented quarterback Chad Kelly, rallied from two early 18-point deficits–21-3 at the end of the first quarter and 24-6 five minutes into the second– to lead 28-27 four minutes into the final frame.

But the Ticats rewrote the script which they’d followed much of the season. They didn’t do what they’d done far too often this year, which is fade under the other team’s momentum. They made some stops they needed to make on the Argos’ last two possessions of the fourth quarter and kept the ball out of the frustrated visitors’ hands for nearly 10 minutes of the final frame.

So much of this game went against previous trends: the quick start, the big plays, the second down conversions—a whopping 70 percent, often at 2nd and long—the dearth of penalties, the strong finish, a great catch (O’Leary-Orange) late in the game, and something that Mitchell and Scott Milanovich think will go uncelebrated in the wake of the overall tension and drama. The Ticats found themselves on their own 1-yard line in the third quarter with Toronto building momentum, and that has not been  Hamilton’s best scenario this year, to say the least. But using mostly Bell and the more bruising Ante Litre to maximum effect, the Ticats marched 58 yards to flip the field position. It didn’t result in any points but six-and-a-half minutes of clock time, into the strong wind, were gobbled up as the Argo offence impatiently pawed the sidelines.

Another sea change, as alluded to above: after being awful on second down in last week’s narrow loss in Winnipeg, Hamilton was confident and poised on second downs in this game, converting at over 70 percent, with pinpoint Mitchell passes, great, contrasting running, from Bell  Litre, and from Mitchell himself who scrambled for a pair of crucial first downs. And toss in Tagovailoa who ran for a touchdown himself on a brilliant fake and dash around the end.

“The coach gave me a chance on the goal line and put his trust in me,” Tagovailoa said of his first pro touchdown in his second pro game, but the first in which he actually got on the field.

“I’m just happy, and blessed, to play with this group of guys. They’ve been helping me a lot. Coming here as a rookie they took me in. It made that transition from college (Maryland) to the pros. I was on the practice squad along with Greg (Bell), and we just stayed ready. When my time comes, I have to make the best of it and I know that these guys have my back.”

While Monday’s offence was primarily about the present, and presence, of Mitchell who was at his deep-dealing best, maybe we also got a slight glimpse into the more-distant future with the use of Tagovailoa.

“I thought he did a nice job,” head coach Scott Milanovich said. “He’s another one that gives them a different level of threat. In those situations, they’re going to out-number you in the run game and maybe the only way to balance it up is to add a quarterback that can block a guy with his feet.

“We knew that (with a lead near the end of the game)  he was going to have to go in and do a good job of managing the clock and working it. He did a nice job, and I’m proud of him.”

While everyone, including the Argos, anticipated that the Ticats would use the run to set up the pass, at the beginning it turned out to be mostly the other way around. Mitchell stretched the field and went deep when he could and found solitary coverage. Most importantly he did not throw an interception, took what he was given when that’s all there was, but also challenged the aggressive Toronto secondary taking “shots” which is football parlance for long passes.

“It’s football, right?” Mitchell said afterward. “You’re going to create as many plays as you can and Scott is one of the best in the game I’ve seen, especially on shots. You go into the game with shots all the time and you run them and hope you get the right coverage and certain coverages it might work against. When they do,  that’s the result.

“You’ve gotta step up, you have to have the pocket to throw, put it in the right spot, the guy’s got to run the right pattern. What people don’t talk about on deep shots are the people (receivers) who are taking other people out of the way. We had a great job by receivers making plays. I told Brendan early on, ‘they’re kind of cheating toward Tim and if it comes down to the end of the game and you’re one-on-one just give me your eyes  … and he did.”

The Ticats have a steep hill to climb but they have maintained at least the filament of a chance to chase the Argos down for a playoff spot but will need help, beginning with Ottawa playing Toronto next weekend. After their bye which begins this morning, the Ticats return to Tim Hortons Field to face Ottawa themselves in the Sept. 14 Hall of Fame Game. Meanwhile, they’ll savour the value of this one and try to translate it into longer-term momentum.

“I think it was extremely big for the team, coming out and battling hard early on,” White said. “Having big plays then battling toward the end and finishing the game off …  I think it was extremely important for us.”

CATS CLAUSES: Tim White had six catches for 180 receiving yards last night, after inhaling seven for 134 in Winnipeg last week.  Scott Milanovich said, “Tim came up huge early in the game, the two touchdowns, great routes, great patience.  He really seems to be hitting his stride these past couple of weeks.” …  Brendan O’Leary-Orange had 54 yards on only two catches, Steven Dunbar Jr. 47 on four catches, Greg Bell 40 yards on four catches … cornerback Jamal Peters had eight tackles, including one for a loss, a knockdown and a points-saving tackle on a two-point convert attempt …. Marc Liegghio was 3-for-3 in field goals including the 55-yard winner which Milanovich called, “a big-time kick.” … DeWayne Hendrix and Nick Usher had the Ticats sacks … Tyler Ternowski and Daniel Bell each had two special teams tackles … LB DQ Thomas and DL Luke Brubacher were late scratches due to injury …  returner Jordan Byrd hurt his knee and came up severely limping and was unable to field a punt in the third quarter. At publication time there was no update on his injury … it was Purolator Food Drive Day and 132,592 pounds were collected …   Argos’ Chad Kelly was 24-for-30 for 322 yards and a touchdown, with one interception … Ka’Deem Carey ran for 78 yards on 12 carries … Former Ticat David Ungerer III led the Argos with 78 yards on 4 catches, DaVaris Daniels caught 4 for 74 yards and a touchdown and  Damonte Coxie six for 67 … Lirim Hajrullahu, another ex-Cat,  was good on all five of his field goal attempts … the Ticats limited dangerous Janarion Grant to just 16 yards on his three punt returns and kicked away from Grant to Deonta McMahon on three of their five kickoffs …. LB Quincy Mauger led the Argos with seven defensive tackles.